help, anyone who has used the HIT program

[Doc.Sust]

The IRON MAN "HIT" program consist of doing two warm up sets per body part. The first warm up set should be very light and about 15 reps. The second warm up set will consist of a moderate weight for 6-8 reps. (In noway should these sets be fatiguing). One warm up set will be sufficient for some muscle groups. For e.g.: biceps after training the back and shoulders after chest work. Next 3 total work sets per body part are to be performed. Work the type 2- B-fibers (6-10) first.Then perform a 2nd set hitting the low repped A-fibers(3-5). Finish off by blasting the C-fibers (11-15). When working the legs and/or traps use a high-mediun-low rep set/scheme. Use a medium-low-high rep/set scheme when doing the rest of your upper body

ok explain this to me for legs, lets use squats. what does ironman mean when he says"use a high-medium-low rep set scheme when doing legs" some one explain, 1 set of squats, how many reps
2nd set how many reps, 3rd set , again how many reps???

also could you explain the rep scheme for upper body to,the med ,low,high rep/set scheme???

[Doc.Sust]

bump,somebody??

[Doc.Sust]

Upper Body: B,C,A routine
Legs: A,B,C routine

Type A can be stimulated by hitting failure on a weight that will allow for the performance of 11-15 reps. Type B fibers with 6-10 reps and type C fibers will be stimulated by hitting failure in the 1-5 rep range.

do have this right?

[Doc.Sust]

last question, can you do legs the same as upperbody(b,c,a,) or is this counterproductive?

[Doc.Sust]

bump!!

[mrclark]

Hi Doc Sust - From what I had asked Iron Man regarding the med-low-high rep range - it was fair game to do this for both workout A and workout B.

The reason why he had suggested that you do legs in the "high > med > low" range was for individuals who might either be older in age and/or their knee joints couldn't take that scheme anymore.

If you have no problems maintaining the med-low-high rep scheme for ALL exercises (including legs) then by all means continue to do so.

I'll just put the routine down here as to how I am doing it and from what I had read and learned from Iron Man & Giantz postings...

The bulking routine followed a 12 Week 3 Day Split - followed by a 6 week 5 day split. So technically this is an 18 week program. The first 12 weeks are run using 1 exercise, and in the latter 6 week 5 day split - an isolation exercise is included along with a power-drop set routine.

Ok, I'll try to write this as simple as possible

During the first 3 weeks of the IM HIT - You will follow a med-low-high range protocol.
i.e. incline bench
med = 6-10 reps (i.e. 275lbs 7reps) set #1
low = 3-5 reps (i.e. 315lbs 3 reps) set #2
high = 11-15 reps (i.e. 240lbs 12 reps) set #3

You will adjust weight accordingly to how much you can do at each range near/close to failure.

Each week you will try to increase the weight. After you follow this for the FIRST 3 WEEKS. Weeks 4-5-6 will include a REST-PAUSE/DELAYED FORCED REP ON ONLY THE THIRD AND FINAL SET (#3). For example let's say that on your 3rd set (11-15 rep range) you're only able to go execute on incline bench 12reps x 250lbs. You RACK the weight - REST 15-20seconds > and then FORCE OUT another 1-3 reps hitting closer to that upper rep end goal.

If you already hit the 15 rep end - RACK the weight again, rest 15-20seconds and blast out another few.

Weeks 4-5-6 follows this order :
* REST-PAUSE IN THE LAST SET (High 11-15 range Only)

Workout A :

Biceps > Triceps > Calves > Quads > Hams

Workout B :

Chest > Lat Width > Lat Thickness > Shoulders > Traps > Abs


After week 6 - Therefore "week 7" technically - you take an entire week OFF.



Workout A - in this order

* Chest (2 warmup)> Shoulder (1warmup) > Triceps (2warmup) > Traps (2warmup)> Abs

Workout B - in this order

* Lat Width(2warmup) > Lat Thickness (1optional warmup)> Biceps(1warmup) > Calves (2warmup)> Quads(2warmup) > Hams (1 optional warmup and optional to do 3 working sets - i.e. pick hmed or low high or both or one or all.)

Pick one exercise for each group. You are only doing 1-2 warmup sets... followed by a 3 working set routine.

Time Factors :

Warmup 15 reps
rest 1 min
Warmup 8 reps
rest 3 mins
Start Working Set #1 - medium = 6-10 reps
rest 3 mins
Start Working Set #2 - low = 3-5reps
rest 3 mins
Start Working Set #3 - high = 11-15reps
rest 3 mins

begin new warmup/exercise , etc...
*** it took me almost 1hr 30mins to do everything - especially workout B***




Regarding the warmups - the order of exercises may/may not require 2 warmups - see above in ()'s

week 1
Monday - workout A
Wednesday - workout B
Friday - Workout A
week 2
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B
etc

---------

My routine :

Workout A :

Chest : Incline BB Press
Shoulders : Seated BB Military Press w/ smith
Triceps : Skull Crushers
Traps : Standing BB Shrugs
Abs : Incline Weighted Crunch & Cable Crunch - maybe 2-3 sets total for abs

Workout B :

Lat Width : Assisted Pullups
Lat Thickness : Bent-Over BB Rows
Biceps : Seated Incline DB Curls
Calves : Standing Calf Machine Raises
Quads : BB Standing Squats
Hamstrings : Lying Leg Curl

Off Days - might alternate with some low intensity cardio -

** NOTE I didn't include the isolation exercises and other exercises that are ok - more detailed info can be found thanks to Iron Man and Giantz11 here :

http://forums.anabolicreview.com/sho...9&postcount=19

and here : http://forums.anabolicreview.com/sho...3&postcount=20

Thanks goes out to Iron Man again for this cool workout - I definitely feel alot better compared to my 1 muscle group/week 4 day split. I'm looking forward to promising results backed by the theories applied here.

[Doc.Sust]

quality post, thank you! clears it all up in a short version

[Doc.Sust]

Each week you will try to increase the weight. After you follow this for the FIRST 3 WEEKS. Weeks 4-5-6 will include a REST-PAUSE/DELAYED FORCED REP ON ONLY THE THIRD AND FINAL SET (#3). For example let's say that on your 3rd set (11-15 rep range) you're only able to go execute on incline bench 12reps x 250lbs. You RACK the weight - REST 15-20seconds > and then FORCE OUT another 1-3 reps hitting closer to that upper rep end goal.

If you already hit the 15 rep end - RACK the weight again, rest 15-20seconds and blast out another few.
ok let say in wks 4 5 and 6 i am doing legs the way ironaman recomended, do you still do delayed reps with weights fo 3-5 reps?

[Doc.Sust]

shouldnt this be the order for wks 1-3?
Workout A :

Biceps > Triceps > Calves > Quads > Hams

Workout B :

Chest > Lat Width > Lat Thickness > Shoulders > Traps > Abs


and shouldnt this be the order 4 workout wks 4 5 6?

Workout A - in this order

* Chest (2 warmup)> Shoulder (1warmup) > Triceps (2warmup) > Traps (2warmup)> Abs

Workout B - in this order

* Lat Width(2warmup) > Lat Thickness (1optional warmup)> Biceps(1warmup) > Calves (2warmup)> Quads(2warmup) > Hams (1 optional warmup and optional to do 3 working sets - i.e. pick hmed or low high or both or one or all.

that is what i got out of what i read in his post, than take of wk 7 and then repeat wks 1-6 again.
also, is IM cutting cyle posted?

[mrclark]

Each week you will try to increase the weight. After you follow this for the FIRST 3 WEEKS. Weeks 4-5-6 will include a REST-PAUSE/DELAYED FORCED REP ON ONLY THE THIRD AND FINAL SET (#3). For example let's say that on your 3rd set (11-15 rep range) you're only able to go execute on incline bench 12reps x 250lbs. You RACK the weight - REST 15-20seconds > and then FORCE OUT another 1-3 reps hitting closer to that upper rep end goal.

If you already hit the 15 rep end - RACK the weight again, rest 15-20seconds and blast out another few.
ok let say in wks 4 5 and 6 i am doing legs the way ironaman recomended, do you still do delayed reps with weights fo 3-5 reps?

From what I had read - and in this case, doc. sust, you are planning to do the high-med-low scheme - then you would on your last heavy set - go for 3 reps ... rack the weight and hit off a couple more to hit the upper 5 range.

Each set is to be taken to complete failure or one rep shy depending on your recovery abilities at that time due to your outside activities and any prior inuries you may possess. Training an exercise to complete failure can aggravate a pre-existing chronic joint conditions and should be avoided. (For e.g.; you would not want to hit complete muscular failure, especially on the heavy low rep sets on any over head press movement if you have shoulder problems. You should do just fine hitting failure on the medium and higher rep sets. You can still get stronger and grow larger muscles by using the 3-5 rep range in a non-failure approach but you will get bigger by taking every set to failure if you can manage to do so. Train for your individual needs. Stimulate the muscle and move on. No need in doing multiple sets as you'll only be hurting your joints and zapping the CNS by doing so. Why waste uneccesary time in the gym through countless sets when end road can be met with less?????? Hit one sub-category of type-2 fibers with one intense set and move on to the other 2 fiber type!!!!

NOTE: I've found that attacking the C fibers (heavy weight/low reps) first will greatly increase ones chance for an injury.

NOTE: One should not be able to reach the upper rep range on their last set during weeks 4,5, and 6. (DELAYEY FORCED REPS ) needs to be employed on the last set of every exercises but not on the heavy 1-5 rep unless it's done last. Never do your DELAYED FORCED REPS before the last set of each exercises as it will cause too much fatigue and would severely decrease ones ability in being able to lift a maximal amount of weight.

(Now heres how to do a delayed forced rep):

Lets say you are able to get 11 reps on the last set of incline presses with a goal of 11-15 in mind. You should rack the weight after hiting failure on your last set for that exercise, rest only long enough (generally 5-15 seconds) so that you can pick up the weight and crank out another 1-3 reps to make the upper limits of 11-15 range. No one should help you do this (delayed forced reps) and they are not the same as (regular forced reps) where someone is giving you assistance. Some may find that doing more than 2 reps is too exhausting on the CNS. The delayed forced reps do not have to be pushed to absolute failure but should be very difficult and taking them to failure will result in maximum growth if your body can recovery from it. If you make 15 reps on the high rep set or the 5 reps mark when doing the heavy set last, go ahead and do the delayed forced rep anyways. Normally the ideal situation would be to shoot for around 3 reps on the heavy set before doing the delayey forced reps and/or shooting for 11-12 reps before performing the delayes forced reps on the higher rep range. This will keep you at the higher end on the heavy sets and at the lower end on the high rep sets. One should only use the modified rest-pause technique on weeks 4,5, and 6 of the 6 week cycle. Do not use rest-pause during the first 3 weeks as it will cause burn out of the CNS.

Thanks again to Iron Man for his material and input.

[mrclark]

shouldnt this be the order for wks 1-3?
Workout A :

Biceps > Triceps > Calves > Quads > Hams

Workout B :

Chest > Lat Width > Lat Thickness > Shoulders > Traps > Abs


and shouldnt this be the order 4 workout wks 4 5 6?

Workout A - in this order

* Chest (2 warmup)> Shoulder (1warmup) > Triceps (2warmup) > Traps (2warmup)> Abs

Workout B - in this order

* Lat Width(2warmup) > Lat Thickness (1optional warmup)> Biceps(1warmup) > Calves (2warmup)> Quads(2warmup) > Hams (1 optional warmup and optional to do 3 working sets - i.e. pick hmed or low high or both or one or all.

that is what i got out of what i read in his post, than take of wk 7 and then repeat wks 1-6 again.
also, is IM cutting cyle posted?

It's reversed Doc.Sust - meaning the original way I had posted it -

Here's an excerpt of why he has it that way -

NOTE: During the first 3 weeks of the 6 week phase you should not be able to use as much weight when performing your arm exercises because you will be training them directly after the torso.Your only eanting to finish the arms off per se!! But during weeks 4-6 of the 6 week cycle you will train arms first on a different split while they are completely fresh. You'll be "AMAZED" at your newly found arm strength. During weeks 1-3 your (torso strength will sky rocket) as arm strength struggles but during the last 3 weeks of the 6 week cycle your torso strength will slow down as your (arm strength sky rockets). After a 7-10 day layoff you will return to the original weeks 1, 2, and 3 split and your torso strength will have sky rocketed once again because of the added arm strength gain during weeks 4-6 and the benefits of the rest pause added during that last 3 week phase of the whole 6 week cycle. I call this the (SLINGSHOT METHOD)!!!

NOTE: Once again lets go over the importance of changing the routine split on weeks 4-6. Failure to do the split as I have it set up will result in less than optimal results. Training arms while fresh (not after upper torso movements) during weeks 4,5, and 6 always brings forth new growth to the bi's and tri's by using a SLING SHOT approach. Newly found strength will be brought to the arms, an obvious weak link when trying to get stronger on compound movements in the upper torso such as presses and rows. (Expect to come back much stronger on the compound movements when you return to start the 6 week cycle all over again due to the strength you have gained in the arms by training them in a different manner all together in conjuction with delayes forced reps). Expect to stuggle a bit more during weeks 4, 5, and 6 when trying to increase weight in the compound movements because the arms will only be given 1 full day of rest instead of three as with the push-pull split and expect to stuggle more with trying to get the arm strength up during the push-pull phase when the arms are being pre-fatigued with compound exercises. However this SLINGSHOT approach is necessary to break plateaus in both "upper torso" and "arm" strength. During this time frame (weeks 4,5, and 6 your push pull split will change to the following because the push-pull split is too demanding on the system as a whole when rest-pause is incorporated and the change is needed to provide the SLINGSHOT approach we just discussed. :

Monday: Chest, lat width, Lat thickness, delts, traps, "abs-1-3 sets".

Wednesday: Biceps,triceps, rotators, calves, quads, "hams-1-3 sets".

I did ask Iron Man if one didn't have time to do a 5 day cutting split, and if he/she was on a cut and is a recreational lifter, the 3 day bulking split as posted is sufficient.

The 3 day bulker split does eventually turn into a 5 day split at week 12-18. An isolation movement is added there with power drop sets -

Regarding the cutting split - Iron Man's full routine is found on another forum, and I didn't want to post it for I wasnt too sure on whether that would be congruent with the rules here on AR.

[Doc.Sust]

thanks mr clark, you really helpred me get this down, if you would like to post ironmans cut routine, i dont feel it would be a conflict with AR so feel free

[Doc.Sust]

so this is the correct order


the order 4 workout wks 1-3

Workout A - in this order

* Chest (2 warmup)> Shoulder (1warmup) > Triceps (2warmup) > Traps (2warmup)> Abs

Workout B - in this order

* Lat Width(2warmup) > Lat Thickness (1optional warmup)> Biceps(1warmup) > Calves (2warmup)> Quads(2warmup) > Hams (1 optional warmup and optional to do 3 working sets - i.e. pick hmed or low high or both or one or all.





order for wks 4,5,6
Workout A :

Biceps > Triceps > Calves > Quads > Hams

Workout B :

Chest > Lat Width > Lat Thickness > Shoulders > Traps > Abs





During the first 3 weeks of the IM HIT - You will follow a med-low-high range protocol.
i.e. incline bench
med = 6-10 reps (i.e. 275lbs 7reps) set #1
low = 3-5 reps (i.e. 315lbs 3 reps) set #2
high = 11-15 reps (i.e. 240lbs 12 reps) set #3

You will adjust weight accordingly to how much you can do at each range near/close to failure.

Each week you will try to increase the weight. After you follow this for the FIRST 3 WEEKS. Weeks 4-5-6 will include a REST-PAUSE/DELAYED FORCED REP ON ONLY THE THIRD AND FINAL SET (#3). For example let's say that on your 3rd set (11-15 rep range) you're only able to go execute on incline bench 12reps x 250lbs. You RACK the weight - REST 15-20seconds > and then FORCE OUT another 1-3 reps hitting closer to that upper rep end goal.

If you already hit the 15 rep end - RACK the weight again, rest 15-20seconds and blast out another few.

[IBdmfkr]

Great info on HIT, hope more ppl read this and learn it is a more efficient way to train.

[Doc.Sust]

the post above sumarize the first 12 wks of the routine, i think it is a terrific workout.